Tag attacher

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed apparatus for attaching tags to a variety of articles by means of fasteners. A fastener usable in a connection with the apparatus has a bar section, a head section and these sections are joined by a filament section. The tag attaching apparatus comprises a body formed like a pistol, a needle which is mounted on the end of the body, a first lever, a second lever which is operated by the first lever, a driving rod which is reciprocated by the second lever, a sliding rod which is given movement by the second lever at each end of movement in the second lever, a moving means which is connected to the sliding rod and a cam device and is movable to a direction of movement in the sliding rod, a pawl which is provided with the moving means and a gear which is driven by the pawl and rotates so as to position the bar section of fasteners to a bore provided in center of the needle. Further, it is characterized by a structure that a spring for returning the second lever to its initial position is mounted movably in its fulcrum, that is, the fulcrum of the spring on the second lever moves so as to make a spring force as uniform as possible.

United States Patent [191 Furutu Dec. 9, 1975 TAG A'I'IACHER [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Japan Bonok Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: June 7, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 477,421

Akira Furutu, Tokyo, Japan Primary ExaminerGranville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmArmstrong, Nikaido & Wegner [57] ABSTRACT There is disclosed apparatus for attaching tags to a variety of articles by means of fasteners. A fastener usable in a connection with the apparatus has a bar section, a head section and these sections are joined by a filament section. The tag attaching apparatus comprises a body formed like a pistol, a needle which is mounted on the end of the body, a first lever, a second lever which is operated by the first lever, a driving rod which is reciprocated by the second lever, a sliding rod which is given movement by the second lever at each end of movement in the second lever, a moving means which is connected to the sliding rod and a cam device and is movable to a direction of movement in the sliding rod, a pawl which is provided with the moving means and a gear which is driven by the pawl and rotates so as to position the bar section of fasteners to a bore provided in center of the needle.

Further, it is characterized by a structure that a spring for returning the second lever to its initial position is mounted movably in its fulcrum. that is, the fulcrum of the spring on the second lever moves so as to make a spring force as uniform as possible.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 9, 1975 Sheet 1 01 3 3,924,788

US. Patent Dec. 9, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,924,788

FIG. 5

US. Patent 13%. 9, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,924,788

FIG. 6

TAG ATTACIIER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to improvements in the art of applying fasteners, and specifically apparatus for attaching tags'to articles by means of fasteners.

2. Description of the Prior Art The US. Pat Nos. 3,444,597 and 3,103,666 are typical of patents showing fasteners and a tag attaching apparatus using fasteners. The US. Pat. No. 3,444,597 relates to a filament type fastener which is molded into one-piece from plastics such as nylon and composed of a bar section, a filament section extending sideways from the center of the bar section and a head section joined to one end of the filament section, whereby the fastener is in the form of a modified H character. The bar section, is the part which is pierced through articles such as garments, is composed of a fine, round bar so as not to injure garments. The filament section is the part which joins the bar and head sections and to hold a tag on it, and is strengthened by molecular orientation by a drawing operation so that it will not be broken or snapped while handling.

The U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,666 relates a tag attaching apparatus using the filament type fastener which comprises a needle being provided with a slit which pierces the bar and filament section of the fastener through articles. A gear is provided to position the one by one into a bore of the needle, means are provided for rotating the gear one tooth for each piercing operation of the fasteners and a lever is provided to push the bar section of the fasteners to the bore of the needle. The tag attaching apparatus of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,666 has a structure in which one must operate the lever in the state of gripping upper-side of a frame and piercing the needle into articles such as garments. In this structure, the movement of the frame is limited to about 90 from a horizontal direction to a vertical direction. Accordingly, it is very difficult, for example, to attach the fastener to articles in the vertical state. Thus, the tag attachment apparatus has a great disadvantage. Further, it has a structure which makes it difficult to attach the fastener easily. Specifically, there is a disadvantage in that elasticity of a spring for the piercing operation of the needle increases so high while operating that an operator becomes fatigued.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the above mentioned prior arts and an object of the invention is;

l. to provide a tag attachment apparatus easy in handling, wide in an operative range and light in an operation;

2. to provide a tag attachment apparatus which is able to push the bar section of the fastener instantly through an elongated bore provided in a center of the needle at an end of returning movement in the lever;

3. to provide a tag attachment apparatus in which there is an extremely large increase in elasticity of the spring connected to the lever during a piercing operation of the bar section of the fastener into an article by the movement of the lever, whereby an operator does not get tired by operation of it and the life-span of the spring is extended at the same time;

4. to provide a tag attachment apparatus smooth and exact in operation which feeds the fasteners one by one;

5. to provide a tag attachment apparatus which includes an easy to change blade for cutting a neck connected between the bar section of the fastener and a rod; and

6. to provide a tag attachment apparatus having a small space for keeping spare parts such as a needle and a cutting blade.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The tag attaching apparatus of the present invention comprises a body formed like a pistol, a needle which is mounted on the end of the body, a first lever, a second lever which is operated by the first lever, a driving rod which is reciprocated by the second lever, a sliding rod which is moved by the second lever at each end of movement of the second lever, a moving means, which is connected to the sliding rod and a cam device, and is movable to a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction of movement in the sliding rod, a pawl on the moving means and a gear which is driven by the pawl and rotates so as to position a bar section of fasteners to a bore provided in center of the needle.

Further, the present invention is characterized by a structure with a spring for returning the second layer to its initial position. The spring is movably mounted at its fulcrum, that is, the fulcrum of the spring on the second lever moves so as to make the spring force as uniform as possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a tag attaching apparatus according to the present invention, with one body section removed for clarity;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the tag attaching apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view showing a relationship of the needle, a feeding mechanism for fasteners, the driving rod and a lever mechanism for operating the driving rod;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views for explanation of movement in the feeding mechanism for fasteners;

FIG. 6 is a exploded perspective view showing a relationship of the lever for operating the driving rod, a slider and a spring for giving an elastic force to the lever; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are side elevational views showing the state of operational movement in a device for adjusting a spring force.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERED EMBODIMENT Refering to the drawings, a body 1 has a pistol-like form which is molded from plastics. Two parts of the body bodies 1, 1a are fastened by means of screws through one part of the body. The body 1 mounts a needle 2 at one end, which is removable by a lock device 3. 4 is a groove which is used to guide the filament section of the fasteners. Under the groove 4, there is provided a gear 5, the teeth of which operate to guide the filament section of the fasteners to the back end of the needle 2 by nipping it. A stopper 6 meshes with the gear 5, whereby the gear 5 can rotate only in a counterclockwise direction. Further, the gear 5 meshes with a pawl 7 which is secured to a moving means 8. The moving means 8 reciprocates up and down whereby the gear 5 can rotate tooth by tooth. 9 is a sliding rod. A

projection 26 mounted on the sliding rod 9 interconnects a cam groove 27 provided on a side face of the moving means 8, whereby the moving means 8 can reciprocate up and down in accordance with right-andleft movement of the sliding rod 9. 10 is a driving rod which is secured to the end of a guide means 11, by the reciprocating movement of which the driving rod operates to push the bar section of fasteners to in the bore of the needle 2. The guide means 11 is guided by a groove 12 to reciprocate right and left in accordance with the oscillation of a second lever 13.

The second lever 13 is supported by a pin 14 and one end of the lever 13 contacts with a cam 16 provided within a first lever 15. The first lever oscillates around a pin 17 as the center of oscillation. The second lever 13 has a slider 18 with which a cover 19 is connected by a spring 20. 21 is a small space for spare parts. 22 is a cutting blade which is fixed by inserting a spring 23 mounted on the body 1a in a bore or a hollow 24 provided with the cutting blade 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, a side plate 40 is attached to the side faces of the gear 5 and the stopper 6 etc., whereby all of parts are fixed in their positions.

Refering to FIG. 3, a feeding mechanism is illustrated. The sliding rod 9 provides projections 25 and 25' on its side face, which contact with the second lever 13 at both ends of oscillating movement of the second lever. The sliding rod 9 also has a projection 26 which interconnects the cam groove 27 provided with the moving means 8. Accordingly, when the sliding rod 9 reciprocates back and forth, the moving means 8 reciprocates up and down. Also, the moving means 8 has a pawl 7 made of resilient material, which meshes with the gear 5.

Now, when the second lever 13 moves in a direction as shown by A, the lever 13 pushes the projection 25 around at the end of its movement, whereby the sliding rod 9 moves in a direction as shown by B. Then, as the cam groove 27 inclines, the moving means 8 moves in a direction as shown by C, whereby the mesh between the gear 5 and the pawl 7 is disconnected. As the gear 5 cannot rotate in a clockwise direction because the stopper 6 meshes with the gear 5, the gear does not rotate further although the moving means 8 moves in the direction C. (See FIGS. 3 and 4.)

Next, when the second lever 13 moves in a direction as shown by D, it contacts with the projection 25' whereby the sliding rod 9 moves in a direction as shown by E and next the moving means 8 moves in a direction as shown by F. As a result, the pawl 7 meshes with the gear 5, whereby the gear 5 rotates by one tooth in a counter-clockwise direction and a fastener is fed between the needle 2 and the driving rod 10. (See FIGS. 3 and 5.)

Next, the lever 13 moves in a direction as shown by A, the guide means 11 and the driving rod 10 move in the direction A, whereby the bar section of the fastener 100 in a position in the back end of the needle 2 is pushed into a bore in the needle 2. (See FIGS. 3 and 4.)

The stopper 6 is fixed in its position relative to the body 1 by a shaft 28 and a ratchet 30 of the stopper presses a tooth portion of the gear 5 by a pushing blade 29, whereby the gear 5 can rotate only in a counterclockwise direction. The ratchet 30 has a rod 31 on its side portion which extends to a side of the body 1. Accordingly, if one pushes the rod 31, the ratchet 30 is disconnected from the gear 5 whereby the gear 5 can rotate freely and therefore the reminder of a fastener can be pulled out easily from the body 1. (See FIG. 3.)

There is provided the cutting blade 22 between the gear 5 and the needle 2. The cutting blade 22 is inserted in a groove in the body 1 and fixed by inserting a projection of the spring 23 in the bore 24. Accordingly, if one pulls the cutting blade 22 by hooking a projection provided at a under end of it, it is pulled out easily from the body 1. (See FIGS. 1 to 3.)

Next, there is illustrated a mechanism for providing a uniform force of the spring 20 to the first lever 15 at the time of a piercing operation of a fastener and further for making long a life-span of the spring 20 which returns the lever 15 to its initial position.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6, the lever 13 oscillates around the pin 14 and contacts the cam 16 of the lever 15 at its other end. Accordingly, the lever 13 oscillates by operation of the lever 15, and both levers 13 and 15 in the same direction.

The lever 13 forks into two portions, between which the guide means 11 is inserted. Also, the lever 13 has a groove 33 in its central portion through which a projection 34 of the slider is inserted. Further, a sliding portion 35, which is mounted at right angle to the projection 34, is guided in contact with the upper surface of the groove 33. The projection includes a hole 36. The spring 20 is hooked between the hole 36 and a hole 37 provided in the cover 19 in the small space 21 which is positioned behind of the body 1, whereby the lever 13 is given an oscillating force in a clockwise direction. The projection 30 provides a extending portion 38, one end of which contacts a projection 39 temporarily.

Next, refering to FIGS. 7 and 8, there is illustrated the operation of the aforementioned apparatus.

FIG. 7 shows a state before pressing the first lever 15, wherein the lever 15 extends from the body 1, the second lever 13 inclines to the right and the spring 20 is in a compressed state. In this state, the slider 18 is positioned at the upper most end of the groove 33 by a component of the force of spring 20. Next, when lever 15 is pressed, the state shown in FIG. 8 is obtained. In this state, the lever 13 is inclined to the left and a guide face for the slider 18, which is provided in the groove 33, is also inclined, whereby the slider 18 slides down to the pin 14. That is, the slider 18 moves the length of L in the groove 33 and thereby the spring 20 shrinks.

'Next, when one weakens the force on the lever 15, the state of FIG. 8 changes to the state of FIG. 7 in which the extending portion 38 in the slider 18 contacts the prejection 39 in the body 1 as the lever 13 rotates in a clockwise direction. Further, when the lever 13 rotates in a clockwise direction, the slider 18 is pushed up by the projection 38. In the above state, as a guide face on one side of the groove 33 inclines a little to the right, the slider 18 is moved in an upward direction by the component of force of the spring 20 and as a result, the state of FIG. 7 is obtained.

As is apparent from the above explanation, since one fulcrum of the spring 20 moves as the lever 13 inclines in a counterclockwise direction, the spring 20 is not greatly extend although the lever 13 oscillates greatly. Also, since the other fulcrum of the spring 20 is connected to the cover 19, the spring 20 closes the cover 19. If one pulls the cover 19 in a direction G by hooking a finger to an upper portion of it, the small space is opened and spare parts such as the needle 2 and the cutting blade 22 can be stored therein.

As the present invention constructed as above described, the following advantages can be obtained.

1. Because of a pistol-like form of the body 1, handling is much better and it is able to attach fasteners to articles in a range of about 180 (from an upper side to a under side). Also, if a lower part of the body l is rounded and proper precautions are taken needle 2 can pierce an article which is being worn to place a tag on it and as a result ofit, it becomes easy to attach the tag.

According to the tag attacher of the prior art, one must operate it using both hands since it is necessary to pierce the needle in a hole of a tag while pressing the tag on the articles. According to the present invention, however, such an inefficient operation can be eliminated.

2. It is able to push the bar section of fasterners in the bore of the needle 2 exactly because the gear 5 for feeding fasterners is driven instantly around at an end of the oscillating movement of the lever 13 (in the state of FIG. '7). Accordingly, it is able to attach a tag to articles at a high speed and smoothly.

3. As explained refering to FIGS. 7 and 8, a fulcrum of the spring is not fixed and moves as the lever 13 oscillates. Thus the distance between both fulcrums of the spring 20 does not becomes too large. Accordingly, since the lever llS moves smoothly and it does not a large strength to operate it, and an operator does not get tired from the operation of the tag attaching apparatus. Further, the life-span of the spring 20 is made long since it is not extended to excess.

4. Since the small space 21 is provided in the body, it is able to store spare parts such as the needle 2, the cutting blade 22 and a screw etc., whereby there is no apprehension of losing spare parts. Further, since the cover 19, which is mounted on a opening portion of the small space is given a resilient force by the spring 20 for returning the levers I13 and R5 to their initial positions, it is not necessary to provide a different spring for the cover 119 and as a result of it, the number of parts is lessened.

What is claimed is:

11. Apparatus for attaching tags using one piece plastic fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a head section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a needle which is mounted on the end of said body, a driving rod for pushing the bar section of said fastener in a bore in the center of the needle, a second lever operably connected to said driv ing rod for pushing said driving rod into said bore, a first lever operably connected to said second lever for driving said second lever, a gear for feeding the fasteners one by one to said needle, a sliding rod positioned in parallel with said driving rod said sliding rod being engaged by said second lever and moved thereby at the end of movement of said second lever, moving means for moving in a direction crossing said sliding rod, a pawl on said moving means, said pawl meshing with said gear to rotate said gear, a cam means for transferring movement of said sliding rod to said moving means and a stopper means for allowing said gear to rotate in only one direction, said stopper means including a tooth for meshing with said gear.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further including a cutting blade provided between said needle and said gear, said cutting blade being removable from said body.

3. Apparatus for attaching tags using one piece plastic fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a head section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a needle which is mounted on the end of said body, a driving rod for pushing the bar section of said fastener in a bore in the center of the needle, a second lever having a groove therein operably connected to said driving rod for pushing said driving rod into said bore, a first lever operably connected to said second lever for driving said second lever and a slider said slider being guided by said groove in said second lever, a spring for providing a resilient force to said slider said slider moving towards the first point of said second lever when said spring is expanded and moving away from said first point when said spring is contracting, a cover and a storage space means within said body for providing a storage area within said body, wherein said spring for providing a resilient force to the second lever holds said cover in a position to close said storage space means.

4. Apparatus for attaching tags using one piece plastic fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a head section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a needle which is mounted on the end of said body, a driving rod for pushing the bar section of said fastener in a bore in the center of the needle, a second lever operably connected to said driving rod for pushing said driving rod into said bore, a first lever operably connected to said second lever for driving said second lever, a gear for feeding the fasteners one by one to said needle said gear being rotated at the-end of the movement of said second lever, a storage space means within said body for providing a storage area within said body a cover means, and resilient means releasably retaining said cover in a position to close said storage space means.

t i t l= i G UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,924,788 D te December 9. 1975 Inventor) Akira Furutu It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

a The assignee should be changed from "Japan Bonok Co."

to --Japan Bano'k Co.-

,Zn'gmtd and Scaled this 0 Twenty-first Day Of Novembe I978 [SEAL] Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON DONALD W. BANNER Arresting Oflicer Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks 

1. Apparatus for attaching tags using one piece plastic fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a head section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a needle which is mounted on the end of said body, a driving rod for pushing the bar section of said fastener in a bore in the center of the needle, a second lever operably connected to said driving rod for pushing said driving rod into said bore, a first lever operably connected to said second lever for driving said second lever, a gear for feeding the fasteners one by one to said needle, a sliding rod positioned in parallel with said driving rod said sliding rod being engaged by said second lever and moved thereby at the end of movement of said second lever, moving means for moving in a direction crossing said sliding rod, a pawl on said moving means, said pawl meshing with said gear to rotate said gear, a cam means for transferring movement of said sliding rod to said moving means and a stopper means for allowing said gear to rotate in only one direction, said stopper means including a tooth for meshing with said gear.
 2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further including a cutting blade provided between said needle and said gear, said cutting blade being removable from said body.
 3. Apparatus for attaching tags using one piece plastic fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a head section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a needle which is mounted on the end of said body, a driving rod for pushing the bar section of said fastener in a bore in the center of the needle, a second lever having a groove therein operably connected to said driving rod for pushing said driving rod into said bore, a first lever operably connected to said second lever for driving said second lever and a slider said slider being guided by said groove in said second lever, a spring for providing a resilient force to said slider said slider moving towards the first point of said second lever when said spring is expanded and moving away from said first point when said spring is contracting, a cover and a storage space means within said body for providing a storage area within said body, wherein said spring for providing a resilient force to the second lever holds said cover in a position to close said storage space means.
 4. Apparatus for attaching tags using one piece plastic fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a head section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a needle which is mounted on the End of said body, a driving rod for pushing the bar section of said fastener in a bore in the center of the needle, a second lever operably connected to said driving rod for pushing said driving rod into said bore, a first lever operably connected to said second lever for driving said second lever, a gear for feeding the fasteners one by one to said needle said gear being rotated at the end of the movement of said second lever, a storage space means within said body for providing a storage area within said body a cover means, and resilient means releasably retaining said cover in a position to close said storage space means. 